Collision
by DancingKitKat
Summary: When Holley and Finn get captured by the escaped Lemons, Mater, Lightning, and Sally race to their rescue. Little do they know what lies in store for them... Now meet Maddie Connor, a regular sixteen year old living in Arizona. Now put Maddie together with Lightning and Sally, and prepare yourself for one heck of a Collision.
1. Mission Gone Wrong - Like, Really Wrong

"She's what?"

Sally stared at Mater in total disbelief as the two truck finished his story. Mater nodded sadly. Sally had never seen the tow truck this upset about anything. It made her feel depressed.

"So Axelrod and a couple of his henchmen escaped from the C.H.R.O.M.E. prison, and when Holley and Finn were sent to track them back down, they both got kidnapped?" Lightning summed up. Mater dipped his hood in a nod.

"And if I don't done fine 'e quick, da Lemons will kill 'em!" Mater said fearfully as he looked down at his hood, or, well, engine, since he didn't actually have a hood.

"Well, we'll help you!" Lightning exclaimed. Mater looked up at his best friend.

"Really? You would help me find Holley and Finn?" he cried excitedly. Lightning nodded, although he looked worried. Neither Lightning nor Sally had ever had any experience in the field of espionage, but they would both do ANYTHING for their friends.

"Of course! They're our friends, too," Lightning pointed out.

"Dad-gum! Well, we better get to work. Finn sent me da coordinates," Mater explained, showing them to Sally and Lightning. Sally quickly mesmerized them, then she got an idea.

"Wait, come with me," she said, turning around and racing towards the Cozy Cone Motel lobby where she lived. She flipped her laptop open and typed the coordinates that Mater had shown her into the Google search. She groaned at the sight of the first article that caught her eye.

"What?" Lightning asked, coming up from behind her. She frowned and showed him the article. He groaned, too.

"So we have to go rescue Finn and Holley from the middle of the ocean in, what, five hours?" he exclaimed, looking worried and annoyed at Miles Axlerod's choice of headquarters.

"Apparently so," Sally groaned. Mater rolled up to them, and she turned to look at her old friend. "Mater, do you know how to get to the middle of the Pacific Ocean within five hours?"

...

Siddeley, one of C.H.R.O.M.E.'s best spy jets and Finn's good friend, dropped Sally, Lightning, and Mater off about a mile away from the oil derricks where Miles Axlerod was keeping Holley Shiftwell and Finn McMissile captive. A small boat was able to sneak them to the oil derricks safely, and he said he'd wait for them. Thank goodness the security wasn't very tight around here.

The three friends snuck around, keeping an eye out for any movements. They came to a railing, and backed up quickly.

Holley and Finn where tied to each other, bumper to bumper, and were sitting in the middle of a room. A couple yards away, Miles Axlerod and a couple of other Lemons were conversing in loud tones that rang through the room on the best way to torture the to their death. "So, what do we do?" Sally hissed. "We don't have any guns or spy gear, and I would guess that they do."

Lightning frowned. "Well, the plan we come up with with Siddeley isn't going to work, since they're being more heavily guarded than we assumed. Um... Okay, how about you get Finn and Holley free while Mater and I distract the Lemons?"

Sally looked at him worriedly. She wanted to come up with a better plan one that would guarantee her boyfriend's safety, but there really wasn't a plan that would promise her that. She sighed. "Okay," she whispered. Lightning smiled slightly and kissed her fender.

"Okay, meet us at the boat." With that, Mater and Lightning sped off.

...

Sally watched as the Lemons gave chase, and she zipped down towards Finn and Holley. Holley saw her first, and her green eyes widened. "Sally?" she asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your sorry butts," Sally replied as she started untying the two spies.

"But - how?"

"Don't underestimate the hillbillies."

"Um, alright."

After several failed attempts and a couple of strong words, Sally got the two untied. They raced apart. "Thank you, Miss Carrera," Finn thanked her smoothly as he revved his engine, ready for action.

"Any time. Now come on, we have to help Lightning and Mater!" Sally exclaimed, then winced at her loud words. She hoped she hadn't just revealed the three cars to the Lemons. Holley nodded, and the three sped off in the direction that the race car and tow truck had last been seen in.

Almost immediately, they were greeted by a round of bullets. Sally ducked and sped off in the opposite direction. Holley and Finn followed.

The trio raced up several levels before they were met by the Lemons. Everything broke out in chaos. Finn and Holley fought the evil cars while Sally searched for Lightning and Mater, panic rising in her engine. "Sti -" she started to scream, but her mouth was covered and she was dragged into the shadows. Her scream was muffled by the tire, so she swung her tire out, and felt it collide with something that gave a familiar grunt of pain. The tire fell away from her mouth.

"Stickers?" she asked, hoping for a 'yes'.

"I'm here. Gosh, you throw a hard punch," Lightning groaned. Sally turned to look at her boyfriend and his best friend.

"Sorry," she whispered. Mater looked at Sally, worry written over his face.

"I freed them. They're fighting with the Lemons" Sally informed Mater. Mater's eyes widened, and he groaned.

"Dad-gum! Well, c'mon!" he hissed as he speed off in the direction of the gunshots. Sally and Lightning looked at each other and followed, but turned around as Holley and Finn sped into sight, yelling,"go! Go! Go!"

Lightning and Sally spun around, their tires squealing. They raced around a corner, and a gunshot blew by Sally's roof. Lightning yelled, and he pushed her into a room and out of harm's way. Sally braked, and whipped back around and zipped into the corridor.

A dirty orange Gremlin was fighting her boyfriend. Lightning was trying to push the Gremlin into a wall, and they were hood to hood. Both of the cars were growling in anger and concentration. Suddenly, the tables turned, and the next thing Sally knew, the Gremlin went ramming into Lighting's side, pushing Lightning into the wall. Lightning gave a yelp of pain, and Sally gasped before she made up her mind.

She raced at them and hit the Gremlin's back bumper, squashing his face into a wall. She and Lightning turned around, attempting to escape, but another bullet soared over them, and they veered into a huge dark room. Sally braked by the entrance, and the second the Gremlin entered the room, she rammed into him again, sending him into a wall. He gave a yelp of pain, then was silent and unmoving. Sally's eyes widened.

"Did I k-kill him?" she asked, her voice shocked and horrified.

"Maybe. Good riddance if you did," Lightning groaned. Sally turned around and gasped. Lightning had a huge dent in his side, and he seemed to be in quite a bit of pain.

"Stickers! Are you okay?" she asked, her voice hoarse as she rolled over to him.

"I'll live," Lightning shrugged. He opened his mouth, probably about to suggest that they go find the others, but then another gunshot echoed through the room. Sally screamed in shock as the Gremlin flipped itself back onto it's tires. It smiled wickedly and shot at something behind her. Sally looked up, and she saw a barrel falling down towards her. She and Lightning quickly reversed, and the barrel crashed in front of them, bursting into flames.

"Crap, it had gasoline in it!" she head Lightning yell from beside her. "Drive! Find an exit, quick!"

Sally didn't need to be told twice. She turned around quickly, but gasped in horror as she scanned the room. There was no place for them to drive to, unless they went through the flames caused by the gasoline. She looked back. The fire was spreading rapidly, and it didn't look like normal fire. It was pale green, and strange shapes danced in the flames.

Sally and Lightning rolled past the walls, banging them with their tires and screaming for help. Cinders and ashes were falling everywhere, and black smoke filled the air seeping into the couple's lungs and making them cough violently. Sally finally just yelled in frustration and raced towards her boyfriend.

"There just isn't a way out!" she yelled, tears in her windshield. Lightning banged against the wall last time, and then he also yelled in anger. He turned towards Sally, and they raced at each other. Their lips met, and they gave each other one last furious, passionate kiss. Then they backed into the shadows, huddled close together, waiting for their death. Sally whimpered slightly as the strange flames came closer, then breathed in deeply, trying to calm down.

"I'm not just going to wait for those flames to come and kill me!" she yelled over the roar of the fire. Lightning looked at her with a pleading look in his eyes, but she could tell he knew it was hopeless.

"Together?" he asked. Sally nodded, willing her courage to not fail her now.

"Together," she agreed. They got as close as they could, and together they raced into the green flames. Sally heard Lightning scream next to her - or had that been her yell? The flames seemed to eat through her metal and bit into her soul. The world was green, then it was blinding white, and then Lightning gave one last yell, and - the world went completely black.


	2. Summer, Hot Guys, and Talking Cars

Maddie Connor's P.O.V.

I slammed my school locker shut and whooped. School was out! Finally! And next year I'd be a junior - only one year away from ruling the school!

"See ya!" I shouted to my best friend, Lily Newmann. She waved at me as I walked out of school, grinning widely. There's no feeling like the feeling of knowing that you have the entire summer in front of you to do whatever you want to.

What was I going to do? I was going to read and go to my dad's junkyard and try to fix cars. Sounds exciting? No? You're right. It isn't, but I don't have a very exciting life. I don't care - I just read to escape from my boring life. But on the bright side, I had turned sixteen a month ago, and I was getting an official job at my dad's junkyard, so I would get paid, which was exciting.

I walked to my dad's junkyard and took a look around. I saw my dad and waved. "Hey, Dad!"

"Maddie! How was school?" he asked as he walked towards me, wiping his grimy hands on his pants.

"Done with!" I laughed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, almost done with work," he told me. I nodded.

"Cool. Well, I'll see you at home," I told him, smiling at him. I gave him a quick one-handed hug and turned away, walking towards home.

...

_"Putting my defenses up, cause I don't wanna fall in love! If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heartatta-a-a-a-ck!"_

I groaned as my eyes slid open. Dang! I had forgotten to turn my alarm clock off. Stupid me. I hit the snooze on my iPod, and drifted back to sleep, only to be woken back up by Demi Lovato's Heartattack again. UGH. My iPod hates me.

I decided to just get up already. I sat up and properly turned my iPod's alarm off. It was six thirty, which was waaay too early for the first day of summer. I can't believe I had forgotten to turn my alarm o - wait, no I had to leave it on. It was my first day of work. Duh! Never mind the 'my iPod hates me' thing. I'd be doomed if it weren't for my iPod.

I slid out of bed and got ready. I picked out a casual pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then went downstairs for breakfast, yawning as I put my wavy blonde hair up in a ponytail. With my blonde hair and grey eyes, people told me that I looked like Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson, and that I should SO play her in the movies - heck with Alexandra Daddario!

...

I won't bore you with the first part of my morning, so I'll move onto the exciting part, shall I?

I was polishing off an old, antique car that we had found on the side off a road, abandoned, a couple of weeks ago, when I heard a car drive onto the lot. I turned around and saw two two trucks hauling two badly charred cars. I wiped my hands on my rags and walked over to them as the guys cut their truck's engines and stepped out of the vehicle.

"Hi, how can I help you?" I said, then I got a good look at the guy who had been towing the first car.

Woah.

He was _hot_.

He was about a year older than me, with brown hair and sparking blue eyes. He was about three inches taller than me, and he smiled at me as we made eye contact.

"Hey, I'm Jacob Roberts. My dad and I found these two cars in our backyard this morning, if you can believe it. We towed them over here, since we figured you guys could do something with them," he explained. I took a good look at the cars and raised my eyebrows.

"You found these randomly in your backyard?" I asked in disbelief. Jacob nodded. "Wow."

"I know. So, we can we drop them off here?" Jacob asked. I shrugged.

"Sure. If we can't fix them up, we'll take them apart and sell and any good parts, or we'll just crush 'em. Do you have any idea how they came to be like this?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Oh, it's fine. Thanks for bringing them here."

"No prob, thanks for taking them."

"No prob," I replied. Jacob and his dad towed the cars to the end of an aisle of old, beat up cars, and set them down. I smiled at them as they drove off. Gosh, Jacob was hot... Too bad I'd probably never see him again. I mean, my town is small, but it's not, like, I-Know-Everyone-Here small, yet it's definitely not New York City big.

I shook my head and gestured to my dad, who was staring at me curiously from his office door. He walked over, and I explained the situation. "I think if I can just get the char off, we could sell them. That one," I pointed to the one on the left,"looks like a good model in good shape. I have no idea what the other car could be, and it has a nasty dent in the side. Kinda reminds me of a stock car."

My dad nodded. "Go for it," he told me, and he he helped me to push them into a shed that had any necessary tools for fixing up cars, plus a hose, rags, and soap, so I could wash them off. My dad's phone rang, and he answered it. "Hello?"

He was silent for a minute, then said,"Sure! Okay, bye." He hung up and looked at me. "Maddie, could you hold down the fort for me for about an hour?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Thanks, sweetie. Love you," my dad kissed me on my forehead and strode out of the shed. I turned to the cars and sighed as I looked over them. This could take a lot of work...

I started scrubbing at the car on the right, the smaller, non-dented one. I used nearly half a bottle of soap, and probably twenty gazillion gallons of water, but I barely did anything. "What the crap happened to you?" I muttered to myself as I sat back on my heels, inspecting the half a foot of the car's paintjob that wasn't totally covered by ashes. The paint was baby blue, and it looked really bad against the cinders. I sighed and stood up - I should try another brand of soap. Then I heard a soft groan. I frowned and looked around. "Hello?" I asked. No response. I guess I had just imagined it.

I walked over to the cabinet that was built in under the worktable that held the different soap brands and bent down, looking for the best brand possible. Then I heard another groan and I froze. "Sally?" someone -a man - moaned weakly.

I looked over my shoulder, searching for the source of the voice. There wasn't - oh, Lord.

The car on the left. Was. Freaking. MOVING.

I couldn't breathe as the car's windshield opened, revealing tired looking blue eyes. He looked around and apparently didn't notice me, but he noticed the car next to him, which - OH MY GOSH, THAT CAR WAS MOVING, TOO! It's windshield fluttered open. "S-Stickers?" it asked in a feeble voice as it squinted at the first car.

"Oh my gosh, what the heck - wait, are we dead?' the first car asked as he sort of limped in front of the other car. That car groaned and stretched out it's axles.

"If we're dead, then why does death hurt so much?" she asked in a pained voice. Then she looked over the other car's fenders and saw me. We made eye contact.

That was the final straw. I unfroze and I bolted up and screamed. "WHAT THE HECK? WHY ARE YOU TALKING? YOU'RE CARS, YOU CAN'T TALK!" I screamed, backing as far away from them as I could. My right hand jumped to my hair and grabbed onto it in my panic. I bet I looked pretty deranged.

"WHAT ARE YOU?" the first car yelped loudly, jumping back and nearly squashing the other car.

"WHAT AM I, WHAT ARE YOU?" I screamed back.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM?"

"YOU'RE A FREAKING TALKING CAR, BUT CARS DON'T FREAKING TALK!"

"WHAT ARE YOU?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM? I'M A HUMAN, DUH!"

"A WHAT?"

"SHUT UP!"

The first car and I stared at the second car, the car I had been scrubbing at. She was staring at me in obvious panic. "Okay, who - or what - are you?" she asked. "And how did we end up here? Where IS here?"

I gulped. I had just been told to 'shut up!' by a car. I think I hit my head. Hard. Very, very hard. "Um, I'm Maddie Connor, I-I'm a human, some guy towed you here after you randomly appeared in his backy-yard, and, um, this is a small town in New Mexico c-called Kapla," I stuttered, staring at the cars. "Who are you, and could you tell me why the heck you can talk?!"

The two cars glanced at each other, then back at me. "I'm Sally Carrera," the car I had been working on introduced herself.

"Lightning McQueen," the other one said. I stared.

"And, um, we can talk because we're normal, I guess," Sally said uncomfortably.

"Normal? NORMAL? Cars can't talk!" I shouted, throwing my hands up.

"Wait, what?" Sally asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that cars can't talk! They're machines!"

"Machines?!"

"Yes, machines! They aren't living creatures! They are made in a factory, people drive them, they break, get fixed up, break again, get fixed again, and that cycle keeps repeating until they get crushed," I said, slightly calmed down by this logic. They stared at me in horror.

"Um, I don't think we're in Radiator Springs anymore," Sally said slowly.

"You stole that from The Wizard of Oz."

"Stickers, we were apparently thrown in a world, practically half-dead, where cars don't talk and get crushed, and you're worried about copyright issues?" Sally stared at Lighting. He shrugged. She groaned. "You're hopeless."

"Aaaand that's why you love me, right?"

"No, I only like you for your body."

"And this just got weirder," I interrupted, still in shock. "Okay, um, how did you get here?"

"You said that someone towed us here. Did that someone had hazel eyes and a rusty paintjob?" Lighting asked. I raised my eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?"

"What are YOU talking about? Where are we?"

"Kapla, New Mexico," I answered.

"No, um, this might sound crazy, but um... I guessing we're in another world. Are you an alien?" Lightning asked, slightly eager.

"No," I replied, slightly offended. I always thought as aliens as creepy little green creatures with skin problems, and I didn't appreciate being compared to one. "I already said I'm a human."

"What type?"

"The breathing type."

"No, what brand? Jaguar, Porshe, stock car?" Lightning rambled off the names of a couple of cars.

"Um, I'm not a brand of human," I explained, shaking my head and still staring at the cars.

"What do you mean? What, does everyone look just like you?"

"No, everyone looks different..." I trailed off. I never thought I'd be explaining what a human is to a car. Lightning just looked more confused.

"Are there any other cars?" he asked, moving on from the previous subject.

"Yes, plenty, but like I said, they're un-living machines that humans drive," I explained, just totally thrown off by the situation. I really think I've lost it.

"What? That's sick!" Lightning spat.

"Are you real?" Sally asked, looking at me suspiciously. I nodded slightly.

"Um, as far as I know, YES," I replied. Sally slowly drove towards me, looking me up and down. I backed away a little more, but I ran into the cabinet. Sally stopped.

"Sorry, um, I just kinda wanted to make sure this isn't, like, a hallucination, or a really, really messed-up joke," she apologized. I relaxed once I learned her intentions. I wonder why I haven't thought of that. Yeah, I bet I'm just dreaming. I nodded.

"Go ahead," I said. And we both tentatively reached for each other, and we made contact, hand to tire.

Oh, gosh.

Yeah, I was NOT hallucinating.

...

Hey guys! WHAT DID YOU THINK? Did you really think I'd kill off some one my fave characters?

Or, at least, kill off my fave characters at the_ beginning_ of a book?

We'll see about at the END. MYAH-HA-HA!

Hope you liked this! Reviews make me smile. :)

Thanks for reading!

Kitty


	3. Jessica's Welcome Gift

**_Holley Shiftwell's P.O.V., the night she and Finn were captured._**

I tasered the closest Lemon, and he fell, trembling. Somehow, when the Lemons stripped me and Finn of our weapons, they managed to miss several important ones, like my taser and Finn's grappling hooks (I wasn't sure if those count as weapons or not, but they do come in handy quite often). I didn't know why they had loosened their security, but that wasn't my problem.

What my problem was was the bullets that were shooting everywhere. Finn and I could have been able to overcome them, but then even more came sneaking up from behind them. One of their bullets nearly nailed me in the rear end, and I jumped about five feet in the air out of shock.

"Retreat, Holley!" I heard Finn cry from in the din. He didn't have to tell me twice. I tasered one last car and zipped away. I spotted Mater heading towards us, Sally and McQueen right behind him, and I screamed,"Go, go, go!"

They spun around and zipped away. I heard a familiar whistling come from behind me, and my right side exploded in pain as a bullet grazed my side. I swerved to my left in a panic, and I heard Mater and Finn both cry out, "Holley!"

Mater rushed to my side, his windshield wide. I felt oil starting to drip out of the wound as it started to burn painfully, and I winced. "Holley, can you drive?" Finn asked me in a rushed tone. I nodded my hood.

"Yeah," I squeaked, and I put the petal to the metal, my side absolutely screaming in protest. More gunshots fired from behind us, but none made contact, thank goodness. Then I noticed -

"Mater, Finn? WHERE ARE SALLY AND McQUEEN?" I shrieked, and they both screeched to a halt and Finn swore angrily.

"What happened to them?" he asked. Mater looked fearful.

"Do ya suppose they - "

Poor Mater couldn't finish his sentence. Another BANG sounded from behind us, and I cringed. "We have to go back and look for them," I insisted. Finn nodded, although he looked doubtful. We raced around a corner, heading in the direction of the place Finn and I had been held captive at.

That was a big mistake.

After five minutes, we noticed something was wrong. There was a strange smell that reminded me of a bonfire, and I glanced up and gasped. "Finn! Mater! Smoke!" I cried. We had lost the Lemons, so I felt safe pulling to a halt. My side ached, but I ignored it in my panic.

There was a FIRE in here. The building could blow up at any moment with all the gasoline in it.

"Retreat!" Finn cried, and he started to pull away.

"But, Finn, we need to find Sally and McQueen!" I cried in a panicked voice.

"They would want us to get out of here!" Finn replied. I bit my lip. He was right, unfortunately. But I couldn't leave them here. They could - no, they WOULD - die.

"No, we have to find them!"

With that, I speed off in the opposite direction of safety, and I heard Finn and Mater following me.

The smoke thickened, and eventually I could barely see. I stopped and screamed in frustration. "Sally! McQueen!" I shrieked, then I started coughing. I was getting dizzy and my mouth tasted like ashes, but I couldn't give up. Not after they had risked their lives to save Finn and me...

"Holley, we need to go. The place will explode at any moment. It's a miracle that it hasn't already."

I whipped around to face the older spy car, tears forming in my eyes from both my grief and the smoke. "We can NOT just leave them!"

"There isn't anything we can do for them! Maybe they found safety. Maybe they were captured. Maybe... Maybe they're gone," Finn said the last option dejectedly as Mater pulled up, looking torn apart from grief.

"And you don't care, do you?" I screamed at the older spy car. "You don't give a da - "

"Holley, you very well know I care about them, but I also care about you and Mater!" he interrupted me. "We need to - "

I never found out what we needed to do as I heard a huge WHOOSH from behind me. I whipped around and gasped at the sight of the flames dancing towards us. The flames were pale green and danced in eerie shapes. They were like nothing I had ever seen before.

Mater gasped, too. "Retreat!" Finn hollered, and this time I didn't argue.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to the flames. It wasn't like Sally or McQueen could hear me, but I still felt the need to apologize. Finn and I had had been the cause of their death. Our - my - stupidity had resulted in the death of two of my innocent friends, who had died trying to save me. I wasn't worth having someone die for me. I should have been the one to have died for one of them.

I was interrupted from my mourning as a beam came crashing down in front of Mater, Finn, and me. I shrieked - we were trapped.

I turned to face the flames that were hissing and jumping eagerly. I gulped. This was the end. I just knew it.

I wouldn't regret my death. Not one bit. I only wished that it had been sooner, before my worthless life had cost two other meaningful ones.

I looked to Mater, who was looking at me with a shocked look of realization in his eyes. I smiled weakly and drove up to him. We exchanged one last gentle kiss. I looked to Finn.

"I-I'm sorry," I croaked. I coughed a couple of times before continuing. "This is all my fault."

"Why would you think it's your fault, Holley?"

"If I was a better spy, maybe you and I wouldn't have been kidnapped, and maybe none of us would be here right now." A tear of regret slid from my eyes, followed by a small sob. As a spy, I was a master at disguising my emotions, but there was no need to now. I was going to die whether or not I acted like a spy.

"Holley, there was nothing either of us could have done," Finn tried to soothe me.

"But I dragged you and Mater into this! You two didn't have to die with Sally, McQueen, and me!"

"Holley, we couldn't have lived with ourselves if we left you to your death."

"It's my fault!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!'

"No, it isn't!"

I screamed in frustration and whipped around, tears blurring my sight. Pain, frustration, grief, regret, shock... I hadn't known it was possible for a car to feel this many emotions. Life was so confusing, but I wouldn't have to worry about that any more. The life of Holley Shiftwell was over.

I drove hood-first into the flames, ignoring Mater and Finn's screams. They tore at my heart, because I had never imagined either of them could have made a sound like that, but I kept moving. The flames leaped upon the oil dripping from my side, and before I knew it, I was suspended in nothing but blackness.

* * *

_**Maddie's P.O.V., back where we left off in Chapter 2. **_

So.

There is a talking, breathing car in my shed.

Two, actually.

My life is seriously messed up.

I wasn't entirely sure what to do then (high school had never prepared me for THIS situation), but I figured they'd appreciate being fixed up. I told them that the soap I had been using didn't really work and they glanced at each other.

"What brand did you use?" Sally asked. I glanced at the bottle.

"Erm... Turtle Wax," I told her. She frowned.

"I haven't heard of that brand. Do you have anything of Meguiar's soap?" she asked.

"Lemme check," I replied, walking over to the cabinet and bent down to look through the different brands. I spotted a bottle and grabbed it, standing up and showing it to the two cars. "This stuff?"

Sally nodded. "Yeah, that's a popular brand back home," she said somewhat wistfully. I nodded a bit and tried to clean her off again this time using the Meguiar's. It worked.

"Why do you think this stuff worked and the Turtle Wax didn't?" I asked, frowning as I scrubbed the sports car off.

"I don't know... Maybe because this is the same stuff we use in our world," Sally suggested. "Read off the ingredients."

I read them aloud, and she gave a tiny nodded, but winced. "Yup, same stuff," she said.

"You okay?" I asked, but then I bit my lip. Kind of a stupid question to ask when she's obviously not. "What hurts?"

"I think I sprained my axle or something and my entire body burns," she confessed. Lightning cringed in sympathy and began stroking her tire gently.

"Ouch, I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm not as in bad shape as you. No offense, but seriously, I should be the one comforting you!"

"Eh, I'm fine," Lightning sort of shrugged by moving his tires outwards a bit.

"Really?" Sally's right eyelid raised suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm too awesome to hurt."

"Stickers!" Sally laughed and nudged his tire in a teasing way. I smiled and laughed a bit, too, as I continued to wash her off.

"So, are there any races in this world?" Lightning asked.

"Yup."

"Cool! Do you watch them often?"

"Yeah, I like to watch Danica Patrick in the NASCAR Sprint Series."

"What kind of car is she?"

"She's a human, like me."

"Then how does she race?"

"Erm... Do you remember what I said earlier about cars here?" I asked in an awkward tone.

"Yeah, cars here... Are... Machines... Oh," Lightning's face contorted into a sour scowl. I understood his displeasure - if the roles had been reversed, I probably would have done the same thing.

"Yeah..."

"So, what do you like to do?" Sally asked me, breaking the awkward silence.

"Me? I like to read, hang out with my friends, cook, and play the Harry Potter Legos video game," I replied as I dipped the rag I was using in the mixture of water and car soap again and brought it back to Sally's side and resumed my scrubbing. "I'm obsessed with Harry Potter."

"You have Harry Potter here?' Sally asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Do you have those books in your world?" I asked in equal surprise as I looked up at her.

"Yeah!"

I frowned. "Do you have the Hunger Games?"

"Yes."

"Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah."

"Star Wars?"

"Yeah. Do you have Disney?"

"Yup! How about sports? What do you have for sports?"

"Soccer, dance, racing - Lightning's actually a racecar - " I looked up at Sally, then at Lightning.

"No way! Really?" I squealed, interrupting Sally. He nodded.

"Yup."

"Awesome!" I cheered.

"Maddie?"

"Crap!" I hissed. "Dad?"

I heard footsteps approaching the door, and I hissed for Lightning and Sally to close their eyes and kind of pull their lips in so my dad wouldn't notice them.

"Hey, honey, how's everything round here?" Dad asked as he opened the door and glanced around. "Nice job on that sports car."

"Thanks," I smiled in what I hoped was a casual way as Dad walked inside and inspected the two cars.

"Hmm... What do you think that car is?" he asked, pointing at Lightning.

"Race car," I replied instantly.

"I don't know if we can sell it... It doesn't look all that great," Dad mused, and I saw Lightning's windshield move a little in what I guessed was annoyance, and I was assuming that if he could open his eyes, he would be glaring at my dad. "Maybe we should just crush it." I felt Sally stiffen in horror under my hand.

"No!" I yelped in a panic, jumping up from the kneeling position I had been in. Dad looked at me weirdly. "I-I like it."

"Maddie, if we can't sell it, what's the point of keeping it?" Dad argued. If only he knew...

"Maybe... maybe I can race it down at the race track," I suggested. The main attraction of Kapla was the small race track about two miles away from my house. The boys around here loved to race their mom's mini vans and their dad's Fords around it, and one of my main sources of amusement was when someone came home with a huge dent in their parent's car and got yelled at. I'm weird like that.

"I don't want you to race. You could be hurt," Dad worried, walking over to me and tracing his fingers over Sally's frame.

"Dad," I whined. "Please, please don't crush L - the car. I like it, okay? Maybe one of the boys will buy it."

Dad frowned. "Maybe."

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?"

Dad sighed. "Fine, we'll try to sell it."

I hugged him. "Thanks, Dad!"

Dad kissed me on the forehead. "I'll be in my office if you need anything," he informed me.

"Kay."

Dad walked out, and it was silent in the shed for about ten seconds before Sally cracked open her windshield. "Is he gone?" she whispered.

I looked out the window as my dad's office door closed. His office building was just a small sort of shack made of old wood and with a sign on the front door.

"Yeah," I breathed and turned around as Lightning's eyes opened. He looked horrified, disgusted, and a little panicked.

"O-okay... That was... Not cool," he said. I nodded, frowning at the memory of our close brush with disaster.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you guys," I promised. I closed the crappy little curtains over the window (don't ask me why we have curtains in here). "Now, let's finished getting you guys cleaned up!"

* * *

_**Jessica Ramos's P.O.V.**_

You know, my life was normal until the burnt cars appeared in my shed.

You lost yet?

Yeah. You are.

I'll explain. I'm Jessica Ramos. I'm seventeen and I have straight red hair about medium length. I'm about five foot six and I have brown eyes. I like archery and soccer, I'm shy when I meet new people, but then I'm very loyal to my friends once I make them. Also, I just moved to Nowhereville, New Mexico, a.k.a. Kapla, from Phoenix, Arizona. I've been in my new home for two hours and I already miss my friends and old life.

After we finished bringing our stuff in and to the appropriate rooms, I flopped down on my mattress in my new room and started texting everyone from back home. I told myself I would unpack later.

Eventually, my phone died. I growled and nearly slammed it on my charger. I stalked out of my new room and into the backyard, ignoring the boxes piled up in my room. I spotted a shed, and I frowned. My parents hadn't mentioned that when we bought the house. I walked over to it and opened the door. It creaked noisily, breaking the silence. I shut the door, plunging the room into darkness, coughing as dust arose from the floor and swirled around me.

I paused as I spotted the three large lumps in the middle of the room. I walked open to a window and brushed the dust from it, letting in the afternoon light. I cringed and wiped them on the side of my jeans (real classy, I know). I turned and faced the objects, which I could now see easier, and I gasped a little.

The three lumps were cars - a tow truck and two sports cars, I think. They looked familiar...

I approached them, wondering why they were here. I mean, who leaves three cars in a shed when they m - oh. I noticed the rust on the tow truck and the scorch marks on all the cars. The car on the left of the tow truck had a huge gash on it's side, and it was dripping oil a little.

"Aw, crap, that can't be good," I muttered. I ran my right hand over the most beat-up looking car, and I felt it shiver a little under my touch. I froze. Had that been my imagination?

I looked over the cars again. Something was nagging at me... These cars seemed familiar...

Someone gave a small groan and I yelped. What was - oh, gosh. I pulled my hand away from the car and hopped back as it's windshield fluttered opened.

* * *

Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter! Sorry it wasn't all that great, but I've been busy. Hopefully the next one will be better!

Reviews make my day. :)

Thanks for reading!

Kitty


	4. More Talking Cars

**Still Jessica Ramos's P.O.V.**

* * *

The car looked around the shed in slight confusion, their expression one of dazed pain. I guess that huge scratch couldn't feel too great...

Their slightly glazed-over emerald green eyes found my brown ones, and the bewildered look disappeared, replaced by shock. She gasped loudly and reversed a couple of feet, knocking into a wooden chair. She looked around in a panic.

"Wh-where am I? Oh my goodness - What on earth are you?" she asked me in a British accent, her voice shrill in panic.

"I-I - What are you - you're a car!" I blurted out, my mouth gaping open.

Wait...

Talking car. Green eyes. British accent.

No way...

She couldn't be...

"A-are you Holley Shiftwell?" I asked in awe, my hands limp against my sides and my mouth gaping open. Her eyes widened in surprise and fear.

"H-how did you..." she croaked out. At that moment, one of the other cars - the other sports car - groaned, and their windshield opened. They spotted me immediately, and they jumped in shock, then groaned in pain.

"What the - What am I - What are you?" the car demanded to know, his windshield narrowed in suspicion. This had to be Finn... So that other car is Mater! Sweet!

"Erm... I'm Jessica Ramos, and I'm a human," I replied, trying to conceal my fangirl grin as Mater also woke up.

"Woah! Where are we?" Mater asked in shock and fascination. He spotted me, and his mouth dropped. He rolled a little closer, her windshield narrowed as he tried to figure out exactly what I was. He glanced in his rear-view mirrors and noticed Holley cowering behind him, oil steadily dripping from the huge gash in her side. He gasped and whipped around, his tow cable colliding with an old work table. The table fell over and the tools that had been lying on top of it crashed noisily to the ground, and I cringed. I hoped my family didn't hear that. I didn't want them to find out about the cars in here. I mean, in the movies, when a kid discovers a huge secret, they don't share it with their families, so who am I to mess with the classics? Plus, I just know that annoying older brother of mine, Johnathon, would do something terrible like report them to the government or say he created them and use his 'inventions' to show off in front of the girls. He's a weird, messed-up kid.

In the meantime, Mater rushed over to Holley. "Holley! Are you okay?" he asked, the concern in his voice evident.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Holley murmured, giving a brisk nod and biting her lower lip.

"Oh, no," Finn muttered as he rolled over, looking deeply troubled as he inspected Holley's wound. He studied it for a couple of minutes, then looked up at me. "She needs some serious medical attention, now. Where are we now, and where is the nearest hospital?"

I glanced at Holley, who seemed to have had gotten a bit paler in the last minute. "Um, you're in the human world, New Mexico... I just moved here and I don't know where the nearest hospital is."

Finn's frown deepened. "Human world? What is human?"

"Um, a human is a living creature... Um, we have skin," I pulled at the flesh on my right arm, showing him my skin, "and bones inside of us... And blood... And a heart. And a brain. And a bunch of inner organs and a stomach and hands and feet and limbs and hair all over our bodies. Do you get it now?"

Finn looked confused - I guess that wasn't a very good explanation. I took a deep breath and re-worded my reply. "Okay, so we have skin covering our frame instead of metal like you. We have blood inside of us instead of oil. We have arms," I gestured at my arms, "and feet," I gestured at my feet, "instead of wheels, and we can move around because of this muscle stuff in between our skin and bones."

"So you're like talking animals?"

I sighed. "Yeah, basically, but we're just as smart as cars."

Finn nodded slowly. "I think I get it. So can you find the nearest hospital for us, please? Miss Shiftwell needs medical attention immediately."

"I'm sorry, but this world is full of humans, and, um, there are cars, but they are, ah, machines," I explained awkwardly, running my hand through my red hair. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?" Mater asked, looking slightly confused and disgusted. "Whaddya mean 'machines'?"

"They're machines. Humans have control over them, and they don't talk or have thoughts..." I trailed off. They all looked horrified.

"That's absolutely revolting!" Holley spat angrily, then winced slightly.

"Yeah... Actually, there's a movie here about talking cars, and you guys are in it. That's how I know who you all are," I explained, smiling slightly. I was a huge fan of the Cars movies, and as I started to get over the initial shock, I realized just how exciting this was. Holley Shiftwell, Finn McMissile, and Tow Mater were in my shed! Sweet! Ha, what a welcome present. Bets the watery brownies that the people next door to us gave us earlier.

"Really? But how?" Finn asked in total disbelief, his mouth agape. "What, are your kind stalkers?"

"Well, some of us, like some cars in the cars world are stalkers," I admitted. Finn raised an eyelid.

"Well, if you got all the details correct, then you have some fine stalkers here," Finn said dryly. I nodded, shrugging. There wasn't really anything I could do about it. Might as well enjoy the good that come out of it - for instance, the Cars movies.

"Yeah... So what should we do about Holley?"

Finn's eyes widened. "How did - oh, right. Movie. Well, first we should stop the bleeding. Do you have a large towel or something you could spare?"

I frowned. "I'll go see what I can find." With that, I turned around, slipped out the door and rushed towards the house.

* * *

Five minutes later, I re-entered the shed. By this time, Holley was a pale lavender instead of her normal deep purple, and there was a good sized puddle of oil on the floor next to her, plus some more oil drenching her side. I rushed over and gently pressed the towel to her side. She winced slightly. "Sorry," I apologized.

"It's fine, you're just trying to help," Holley muttered, her voice much softer than normal.

I looked to Finn and Mater, who were next to her, looking worried. Mater was gently stroking her front right tire. "What happened to her?" I asked. I couldn't believe I hadn't asked this earlier, but I guess I had been a little preoccupied with the fact that a trio of fictional characters from my favorite movie had just randomly appeared in my shed.

Finn cleared his throat before telling me about how he and Holley had been kidnapped, and then Mater, Sally, and Lightning went to save them. I noticed his pained expression when he started talking about Sally and Lightning. I wondered where they were, but kept my mouth shut and kept tending to Holley, thinking that it was a miracle the towel hadn't yet burst into flames or something. He explained about how Holley had gotten shot, and the huge, mysterious fire. He said that the last thing that he remembered was seeing Holley race into the flames, and then following her, attempting to save her, but with no luck.

I frowned and looked at Holley, who's eyes were squeezed shut in agony. "Why did you do that?" From what I knew about her, Holley Shiftwell seemed level-headed enough to know better than to jump in a bunch of weird flames.

"I-I..." Holley took a shaky breath and trailed off.

"Holley, it wasn't yur fault," Mater tried to reassure her, kissing her softly on her fender. She gave a tiny shake of her hood.

"No, if I hadn't been s-so stupid, and gotten Finn and m-myself kidnapped, they would have n-never died," she argued, sounding close to tears. I thought for a second on who 'they' might be, and I realized - Sally and Lightning had gone to the oil rig with Mater.

No. They couldn't be...

I clasped a hand to my mouth in horror as my fangirl-heart broke.

Sally Carrera and Lightning McQueen, two of my biggest heroes, were dead.

* * *

**Maddie Connor's P.O.V.**

Lightning, Sally, and I suffered another close call when my dad came back to check on me around four o'clock. If he hadn't tripped over the threshold and had to look down at his feet as he regained his balance, I would have had to explain why the heck there were a couple of living cars in the shed. That would have been a pain in the butt.

"Nice job, Mad," he said admiringly, inspecting Sally, who was completely clean by now. "Wow, that's one nice car."

"Yeah," I agreed. I saw Sally's lips twitch a bit a the corners, nearly giving herself away. Thankfully, my dad was looking at Lightning, who I was in the process of washing off. He started talking about how he could use some of his fancy tools to remove the dent, and I walked to his side. I squinted and tilted my head to the side.

"I was thinking I could just use a toilet plunger," I said once he had to pause for breath, reaching my hands out and then jerking them closer, mimicking myself removing Lightning's dent with a plunger. Dad laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder and squeezed.

"Or that," he laughed. I grinned. "Well, it's about time to head home."

I frowned - Lightning and Sally had just been telling me their exciting tale about rescuing their friends from a bunch of evil villains. We had been talking about the possibility that there had been something in those crazy flames that had transported them here, but I guess that the rest of our conversation will have to wait until tomorrow. "Uh, sure."

Dad nodded a bit. "Okay. I just have to quickly finish some things, and then we can go. I'll meet you by the car in about five minutes. Sound good?"

"Sure, Dad."

Dad gave my shoulder another squeeze and started walking out, but then paused and turned to look at me. "By the way, did I hear you talking to someone in here?"

My stomach dropped. "I, ah, was just talking to myself," I muttered, looking away from him so he couldn't see the lie in my eyes.

Dad chuckled a bit. "Oh, okay. Hey, that's fine. Don't be ashamed, we all do that."

"Yeah. Okay."

Dad walked out, closing the door behind him, and Sally and Lightning breathed out and opened their eyes back up.

"I like your dad," Sally said, smiling. There was a friendly, cheerful sparkle in her eyes that made me smile. She was such a nice car, and I could totally see why Lightning loved her so much.

"Thanks, I like him, too," I giggled as I started packing up my stuff. "Sorry, Mr. McQueen, guess I'll have to finish cleaning you up tomorrow."

"It's fine, and please, just call me Lightning," Lightning said generously. Technically, I had already been calling him Lightning in my head, but whatever.

"Okay," I replied, smiling at him. He grinned back. Lightning was also very nice, but had a slightly more aggressive and competitive edge to him. I supposed that came from his being a racer.

I toted the bucket of soapy water to the door and dumped it out in the grass. I washed it out once with the hose and also threw that onto the grass. I wrung out the rags I had used and put them on the edge of the table to air out overnight. I put the Meguiar's car soap back in the cabinet built in the worktable and stood up, stretching out my slightly sore back. It cracked loudly, and Sally and Lightning jumped a little.

"Woah, are you okay?" Sally asked me in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What was that?"

"My back."

"I think you should get that checked! That didn't sound too great."

I laughed a little at their worry. "Oh, no, I'm fine. It happens all the time."

"Why?"

I paused, frowning. "Ya know, I don't actually know why it does that... My teacher explained it, but I was completely lost. Something about built-up gases?"

Lightning snickered, and I gave him a friendly glare. "Not that kind of gas," I said, trying to be annoyed, but I couldn't help but giggle.

"Then what kind of gas?"

"I dunno, there's a reason I get good solid D's in chemistry."

Lightning laughed as Sally raised an eyelid. "Really? D's? I bet you can do better than that."

I shrugged, frowning a bit. "I guess I could..."

"I mean, what if your career choice requires a degree or something in chemistry? What do you want to choose as your career when you grow up?"

My shoulders slumped. I only had two years until college, and I still had no idea where the heck I wanted to do with my life. "I - I don't really know yet," I muttered, my face hot like it always is when I discuss this subject.

"What are your interests?" Sally inquired. That's easy. Minecraft. Watching TV. Texting my friends. Watching the boys race down at that race track and wishing I were out there with them. Reading. However, I don't think any of those will get me a good career.

"Um, nothing that could land me a career," I admitted, my face getting a bit hotter. I reached towards my hair and started twirling it around my right index finger like I always do when I get agitated. Sally seemed to notice I was getting flustered, and cleared her throat.

"Okay, that's fine. Sorry, that wasn't really any of my business," Sally apologized. I shrugged.

"It's fine, no big deal," I said. She smiled a little in relief at my acceptance of her apology and nodded a little as my dad called for me. "Okay, see ya tomorrow. Is there anything I can bring you to eat or whatever?"

"Do you have any oil?" Lightning asked eagerly.

"Well, yeah, of course. This is a car junkyard."

Lightning frowned at my use of words but let it slip. "Anything we could drink?"

"Maddie!"

I looked around as I saw my dad's shadow approaching and whispered,"I'll see what I can find."

"Thanks," Lightning hissed back as he and Sally closed their eyes and readjusted their mouths so they weren't as noticeable.

"G'night."

"Night."

I jogged out the door and closed it behind me. I turned to face my dad and smiled. "Hi."

"Ready to go?" he asked me cheerfully as he wrapped his arm around my waist and we started walking down the worn dirt path towards our car, which was parked on the curb by the entrance of the junkyard. My dad is a good-natured man. He's the kind of guy who's nice to just about everyone and always looks on the bright side. I love that part of him, and wish that I could always be like that. However, my patience and temper are pretty short and often get the best of me. I guess that just goes to show that everyone's different. "Maddie?"

I snapped out of my admiring and somewhat envious thoughts and looked at Dad. "Sorry, I got distracted. What did you say?"

"I was just wondering how your day went," he repeated as we reached our old dark blue Ford pick-up truck. He dug the keys out of the pocket of his jeans and unlocked the truck. I hopped in and slammed the door shut.

"It was good, thanks. Yours?" I told my dad as he sat in the seat next to me. As he replied, I buckled my seat belt and stared at the shed where Lightning and Sally were hidden from the rest of the world. I had to figure out what the heck to do with them. They couldn't just sit in there until we found out how to bring them back - _if_ we could find a way. I mean, they had to eat and drink, stretch their legs - axles - and go for a drive every now and then, right? And they needed some form of entertainment sometimes? Gosh, is this what it's like having kids, having to plan on how you would properly raise them and all that? And then having to actually carry your plan out?

I don't think I shall have kids. **Ever**.

* * *

**Third Person P.O.V.**

Night began to fall, and Sally looked out at the window. She had to raise up a bit on her front axles to be able to get a clear view of the outside. The Connor's junkyard looked creepy and forbidding with the shadows of all the none-living cars stretching across the dusty sand. Sally looked at a dusty Buick with no glass in the windows or windshield. The sight reminded her of a corpse from a horror movie she had once seen. Sally's friend had had her over for a sleepover on Halloween when they had been eleven, and, giggling madly at their brave, daring selves, they had chosen to watch a R rated horror film. Naturally, it had scared the two girls senseless - neither had been able to sleep for weeks.

"Whatcha thinking about, Sal?"

Sally lowered herself and looked back at her boyfriend, how was smiling softly at her. He never wore that expression except for when he was with her, and it always made her fell giddy. She loved him more than just about anything in the world, and she knew he felt the same way. She had been hoping that after five years of dating, he would be thinking about proposing to her. Everyday, she woke up, hoping that by end of the day, there would be a sparkling ring on her left rear view mirror, and everyday, she went to bed, trying not to feel too disappointed. After weeks of this, she would have settled for being proposed to in a tractor field, and one of those Ring Pops candies as her engagement ring. But nope, still nothing.

Sally shook herself out of her disappointed - and slightly doubtful - thoughts about her and Lightning's relationship. "Oh, not much. It's not like we just got transported into a world with a bunch of two-wheeled - er, legged, I guess - creatures that use our kind as mechanical slaves," she answered dryly. Lightning gave a weak chuckle, looking worried. Sally couldn't blame him - she was pretty worried herself.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I sure hope Mater and everyone got out okay."

Sally's breath caught. She hadn't even really thought about the fates of their friends! Now she felt even guiltier than before - first interrogating Maddie about her career plans for the future (Sally was very academic, and wanted the best education for everyone, including strange creatures she had known for a matter of hours), now this. "What's wrong?" Lightning asked, seeing the mortified look on her face.

"I - I haven't actually thought about Mater, Holley, or Finn," she confessed shamefully. Lightning's bit his lower lip.

"Neither did I, until just a few minutes ago," he told her. Sally's tires went limp in relief and she sighed, feeling glad that she wasn't so bad after all. She rolled up to his side, the one without the dent, and cuddled up to him, leaning against him. It was so much to register, and she was so, so scared they would never get home, that they would be stuck in this shed for the rest of their lives.

The couple was quiet for several minutes, trying to relax, and just enjoying each others company, despite the drastic situation. Finally, Lightning broke the silence.

"I love you," he said in a soft voice, looking at her in the corners of his eyes. She smiled gently.

"I love you, too," Sally replied, and she pulled up a couple of feet, kissing her boyfriend. She kissed her back, and for just a few minutes, everything was perfect.

* * *

Review if you loved that ending! Cause I think it was pretty darn good... ;)

Anyways, hope you guys liked this chapter! Also, I posted a new fanfic with Laura, currently Fangirl Of Multiple Things, called 'The C.H.R.O.M.E. Spy Exchange Program'. We'd appreciate it if you'd check it out!

Thanks for reading!

Kitty


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